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The England World Cup squad start as hot favorites to win the ninth edition of this quadrennial event. Despite being the pioneers of cricket, England have not been able to win the world championship even once.
Coming into the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in West Indies, England had a disastrous 0-5 washout at the hands of Australia in the Ashes series. However, they had their revenge with recent victory in the CB Series against Australia and New Zealand. The England World Cup squad can thus be a major threat to other teams.
The injured Michael Vaughan has been placed at the helm once again, despite several question marks over his fitness. Not quite astute as a captain, Vaughan is continued with mainly because of the lack of captaincy material in the English World Cup squad. The onus of motivating the team and coming up with the right strategies is on Vaughan now.
Opener Andrew Strauss is persisted with, despite his recent no-shows. He will be eager to take the field as a member of England’s World Cup squad. Paul Collingwood has been doing well of late, and will want to take his good form into the World Cup as well. Ian Bell and the destructive Kevin Pietersen will further strengthen England’s batting order.
The bowling department of England’s World Cup squad will be taken care of by the likes of James Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Monty Panesar, Sajid Mahmood, etc
The surprise inclusion in England’s World Cup team is all-rounder Ravinder Bopara. He, along with Andrew Flintoff and Jamie Dalrymple, are expected to showcase their expertise in all departments of the game during the tournament
Flintoff, though not in the best of forms, is considered to be one of the world’s best all-rounders, and has the ability of ravaging his opponents.
England’s World Cup squad is as follows: |
Michael Vaughan (C)
Ed Joyce
Ian Bell
Andrew Strauss
Kevin Pietersen
Paul Collingwood
Andrew Flintoff
Paul Nixon (Wk)
Ravinder Bopara
Jamie Dalrymple
Monty Panesar
Jon Lewis
James Anderson
Liam Plunkett
Sajid Mahmood
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